twilio-content-template-builder

Overview

The Content API creates channel-agnostic templates identified by a ContentSid (HX...). WhatsApp templates must be approved by Meta before use outside the 24-hour service window.

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Prerequisites

• Twilio account — New to Twilio? See twilio-account-setup
• For WhatsApp templates: active WhatsApp sender — See twilio-whatsapp-send-message (sandbox) or twilio-whatsapp-manage-senders (production)
• Environment variables:
  • TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID
  • TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN — See twilio-iam-auth-setup for credential setup and best practices
• SDK: pip install twilio / npm install twilio

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Quickstart

Step 1 — Create a template via Console (simplest)

Console > Messaging > Content Template Builder > Create new. Use {{1}}, {{2}} for variables. Save to get a ContentSid.

Step 2 — Send the template

Python

import os
from twilio.rest import Client

client = Client(os.environ["TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID"], os.environ["TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN"])

message = client.messages.create(
    from_="whatsapp:+14155238886",
    to="whatsapp:+15558675310",
    content_sid="HXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    content_variables='{"1": "Sarah", "2": "March 28", "3": "10:00 AM"}'
)
print(message.sid)

Node.js

const twilio = require("twilio");
const client = twilio(process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID, process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN);

const message = await client.messages.create({
    from: "whatsapp:+14155238886",
    to: "whatsapp:+15558675310",
    contentSid: "HXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    contentVariables: JSON.stringify({ "1": "Sarah", "2": "March 28", "3": "10:00 AM" }),
});

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Key Patterns

Create a Template via API

Python

template = client.content.v1.contents.create(
    friendly_name="appointment-reminder",
    language="en",
    types={
        "twilio/text": {
            "body": "Hi {{1}}, your appointment is on {{2}} at {{3}}. Reply YES to confirm."
        }
    }
)
print(template.sid)  # HXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx